Stocks up on earnings; Dow nears 13,000

NEW YORK - Wall Street bounded higher Friday after Google Inc. led a series of stronger earnings reports that propelled the Dow Jones industrials further into record terrain and toward its first assault on the 13,000 mark.

Undated file photo of the Wall Street street sign is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York. [Reuters]

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 119.54, or 0.93 percent, at 12,928.17 after setting a new intraday high of 12,950.44. The blue-chip index has hit 33 record closes since the beginning of October last year.

After tempering their expectations for the first-quarter, investors have been pleasantly surprised by the initial torrent of earnings reports, helping major indexes rebound from February's market plunge. The Nasdaq composite and Standard & Poor's 500 are both at six-year highs.

So far, 16 of the 30 Dow components have posted financial results for the first three months of the year - with ten surpassing analyst forecasts. Dow components Honeywell International Inc., Pfizer Inc., Caterpillar Inc. and McDonald's Corp. all reported results before the open.

Google reported late Thursday a 69 percent jump in first-quarter profit to exceed analyst expectations. The results helped reassure some investors who had grown cautious about the technology sector after disappointing earnings earlier in the week from companies such as Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)

"The main impetus has been, most of the bears and the gloom-and-doomers thought that first-quarter earnings would stink. Once again, the Gloomy Gus's have been proven wrong," said Alfred E. Goldman, chief market strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis.

"However, the market has come an awfully long away in a short period of time," he added. "Some short-term caution is called for."

Broader stock indicators advanced. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 11.39, or 0.77 percent, at 1,482.12, and the Nasdaq composite index surged 19.53, or 0.78 percent, at 2,524.88.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 489.2 million shares.

Bonds were unchanged in the midst of the stock rally, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.67 percent. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

The rally was solidly anchored by some of the biggest companies in the world, all components of the Dow.

Caterpillar was the Dow's biggest mover after the manufacturer of heavy construction and mining equipment posted better-than-expected quarterly profit and issued robust profit guidance. Shares rose $3.71, or 5.4 percent, to $72.33.

Honeywell International rose $1.54, or 3.1 percent, to $50.60 after the aerospace company topped Wall Street projections.

Google jumped after beating expectations, which it has done 10 out of 11 quarters since its initial public offering. The stock surged $18.16, or 3.9 percent, to $489.81.

McDonald's reported quarterly profit rose 22 percent, but its shares dipped 42 cents to $48.36. Pfizer reported one-time charges that pushed profit lower by 18 percent, but the results beat expectations. The stock dipped 3 cents to $27.04.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 8.82, or 1.08 percent, at 828.14.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.42 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.97 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.49 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 2.02 percent.